


shamewolf

by scottmccall (xolaurenreed)



Category: Shameless (US), Teen Wolf (TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-11
Updated: 2014-06-11
Packaged: 2018-02-04 05:52:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1767868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xolaurenreed/pseuds/scottmccall
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>what i planned on doing and what this turned out to be are two //completely// different things. i was going to have it be scott/isaac centric but somehow it turned into being ian/mickey centric along the way but i'm sure you won't mind :))))))))</p><p>but uh yeah i think all you need to know is that instead of being a few years older, mickey is their age. i wanted to include kira and danny somehow, but it didn't work out. i already have ideas for another installment that'll be scott/isaac centric, but with as lazy as i am, that prob won't happen until your next birthday ((i'm sorry, i suck))</p><p>okay i think that's it. i hope you have an absolutely amazing birthday, stephanie. i love you tons and tons!!!</p>
    </blockquote>





	shamewolf

**Author's Note:**

> what i planned on doing and what this turned out to be are two //completely// different things. i was going to have it be scott/isaac centric but somehow it turned into being ian/mickey centric along the way but i'm sure you won't mind :))))))))
> 
> but uh yeah i think all you need to know is that instead of being a few years older, mickey is their age. i wanted to include kira and danny somehow, but it didn't work out. i already have ideas for another installment that'll be scott/isaac centric, but with as lazy as i am, that prob won't happen until your next birthday ((i'm sorry, i suck))
> 
> okay i think that's it. i hope you have an absolutely amazing birthday, stephanie. i love you tons and tons!!!

Ian could pretty much exactly determine what events had brought him to this point in his life. For example - if last February Ian hadn't left his wallet in the locker room after an early morning lacrosse practice, he would not have had to return to the locker room later that afternoon to retrieve it before going to meet Mickey to hook up before he had to be home to help Fiona cook dinner. He wouldn't have walked in on Scott McCall picking up Jackson Whittemore and throwing him across the room, breaking a sink off of the wall in the process. Ian couldn't really blame Scott. Jackson was a douchebag and everyone knew it. Hell, even Jackson knew it. Ian probably wouldn't have questioned the fight if Jackson's flying body hadn't broken a sink off of the wall moments before Jackson got up again and went after Scott like nothing had happened. The instant Scott heard Ian enter the room he whipped around before seeing who it was and covering up his face to hide from Ian. Even if somehow Ian had been stupid enough to blindly accept Jackson's apparent super strength, there was no way he could ever be dumb enough to accept any excuse given to explain the hair sprouting off of Scott's face, his glowing golden eyes, his sharpened teeth, and his ears that were double the size of any normal human's. When Scott dropped his hand from his face, his features were back to normal, but Ian couldn't erase the image of hairy, grotesque looking Scott from his mind as Scott stammered out some bullshit excuse about his eyes getting irritated due to the fluorescent lights. Ian focused back on Scott again and saw that he had an expectant look on his face; he'd probably asked Ian a question.

"I'm sorry, what?" Ian said, shaking his head to try and clear his mind.

"He asked if you needed something, dumbass," Jackson replied.

"I, uh, forgot my wallet in my locker. But I'm obviously interrupting something, so I'll just come back later or—"

"No, no, no, it's fine," Scott assured him. He looked over at Jackson. "Jackson was just leaving." Jackson scowled at Scott before something seemed to dawn on him. A smirk appeared on his face as he grabbed his backpack and began walking towards the door.

"Yeah, I'm going. But you might want to inform our friend here of what he actually saw instead of giving him some stupid excuse about the shitty lighting. You wouldn't want him finding out on his own and running to Gerard, would you?" A look of anger flashed over Scott's face as Jackson finished speaking before waving arrogantly and leaving, slamming the door behind him. Scott sighed heavily and turned back to Ian. Ian felt a pang of pity for him when he saw the distressed look on his face.

"Look, I'll just go. You don't owe me an explanation. Fluorescent lights, whatever." Ian walked to his locker and grabbed his wallet, sliding it in his pocket. "It's fine, dude."

"No, it's not." Scott leaned back against the wall and slid down it, resting his head back against it once he was seated on the ground. Ian interpreted the few moments of silence that followed as an invitation to join him and took it, sitting down next to him. Scott looked deep in thought for a minute before beginning to speak. "I've known you since Kindergarten, Ian, and I know you aren't stupid. I also know you probably won't tell anyone what you saw in here today, but I can't take the chance of you accidentally slipping up and saying something to the wrong person. If I explain this to you, you have to swear to me it won't leave this room. Please." Scott looked over at Ian with a desperate look and Ian immediately nodded slowly.

"I promise."

Scott dove into an explanation of everything that had happened over the past few months: the bite, Allison's family, Peter and Derek, Lydia getting bitten, and lastly, the kanima. He finally fell silent and looked down at his hands. "I know it sounds crazy, but it's true. Every word of it is. I wouldn't tell you any of this if I didn't trust you, so please don't let me down. If Gerard finds out what I am, I'm dead. Jackson's dead, Derek's dead, Lydia's dead. He can't find out." Ian nodded for a moment before he began speaking.

"I'm in."

"Excuse me?"

"You need help figuring out who the kanima is. The longer it runs rampant throughout the city, more and more people die. You can't expect to have told me all of that and have me not want to help you."

"Ian, I really appreciate the sentiment, but this is way out of your league. I don't mean that as an insult; it's out of all of our leagues, even Derek's. I can't have you getting hurt too, just because you accidentally walked in on something you weren't meant to see." Scott looked at him pleadingly.

"Fine. I won't go out and actively try and find who it is. At least let me research. I can try and find out more about it, its strengths and weaknesses. I can help, Scott." Ian tried to give Scott the most convincing look he could muster. Scott sighed heavily before finally nodding.

"You can help. But you can't talk to anyone about it except for those directly involved. Not your siblings, or your friends, or whoever you're dating – no one." Ian victoriously smiled before being reminded by Scott's dating comment that he'd promised to meet Mickey after school.

"Shit. Shit, shit, shit." Ian looked down at his watch and stood up. "I'm late. I have to go meet Mickey." Ian felt himself grow pale once he realized what he said. He looked at Scott who had his eyebrows raised questioningly.

"Milkovich?"

Ian tried to come up with an excuse, but he couldn’t find one. "Can that 'nothing leaves this room' rule apply here too?" Ian winced. "He'd literally murder me if he found out that anyone other than Lip knew about him and me."

Scott held up his hands. "I'm not one to judge, nor am I one to tell people things that aren't my business. Your secret is safe with me, man." Ian smiled down at him and grabbed his backpack off the ground before walking toward the door. He turned around to look at Scott before opening it.

"I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, dude, of course. Come sit with us at lunch and Stiles and I can try and fill you in with whatever I forgot today."  
Ian smiled back at him before exiting the locker room.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The next few months passed in a blur. Ian got to know Scott and his friends, and, soon enough, they became his friends too. Ian connected almost immediately with Stiles and Isaac, and becoming friends with Allison, who seemed to be the nicest person that had ever existed, was one of the easiest things Ian had ever done. Getting to know Lydia, however, was a challenge. Ian could tell how protective she was of her friends, and she didn't want anyone hurting them or, hell, even joining their group. Despite this, she eventually warmed up to him that summer. Jackson took time to cope with his newfound lycanthropy in some small town in France; Allison had left Beacon Hills for a few weeks to spend some time with her cousins in Florida; Stiles was away with his dad on business in New York; and Scott and Isaac, to no one's surprise, had just begun dating and were too wrapped up in each other to realize what was going on in the world around them. Ian couldn't blame them; after the last semester they'd had, all of them needed to take a decade long vacation. Because of the absence of their friends, Lydia and Ian had no one to turn to but each other. Somewhere between the terribly awkward first time they hung out and the drunken conversation they had in which Ian finally came out to Lydia, she'd come to accept him as part of their pack. Despite their new friendship, once Allison got back from Florida, her and Lydia seemed to enter the same honeymoon phase in their relationship that Scott and Isaac were in; Ian saw little to none of the two girls for the rest of the summer due to the fact that the only times they emerged from Lydia's room were to find something to eat or to shower.

Ian took advantage of his free time once Allison and Lydia began dating to spend time with Mickey. At first, Mickey seemed almost uncomfortable to step foot inside the Gallagher's house; however, soon enough he had basically moved in with them. Though at the beginning Ian was surprised Mickey wanted to spend time with him doing anything other than fucking, the two boys quickly realized they shared many interests; their favorite movies, shows, bands, and even books were the same. (Once Ian found out Mickey secretly loved reading, yet had never been allowed to read in the Milkovich household, he supplied Mickey with countless recommendations.) Multiple times when the two stayed up until three in the morning talking, Ian almost let Scott and his pack's secret slip. He was moments from finally telling Mickey about everything when Mickey asked him for the millionth time why he was friends with "that punk Stilinski" and "the bitchy redhead," but was interrupted by Lip and Mandy coming in and asking them if they wanted to watch a movie with them.

Ian knew deep down that once school started again, he'd have to choose between Mickey and the pack. The only way he could keep both was to tell Mickey the truth about his friends, but even then he ran the risk of Mickey not believing him or losing the pack's trust. He couldn't choose, though. Both the pack – Scott, Allison, Lydia, Stiles, Isaac, Jackson, even Derek on his good days – and Mickey were like family to him now. Ian knew he and Mickey weren't really together, and they probably never would be. But by most people's standards, and his own, he and Mickey were pretty much boyfriends already. Though Mickey would never admit it, he cared deeply about Ian and Ian about him. He knew Ian as well as, if not better than, the pack did. That's why a month after school began and a week after Scott sat down the pack and told them that an alpha pack was in town, Mickey could tell that something was wrong with Ian.

"Look, Ian," Mickey said one day after school when they were in Ian's room working on homework, though Ian was noticeably not paying attention to what he was doing. "What's up with you, man? For the past few weeks you've been… not really there. Every time we hang out it's like you're thinking about something completely different." Ian felt his eyebrows shoot up. Sure, he knew Mickey cared about him, but this was the first time Mickey had ever verbally expressed his care. "Oh, shut up," Mickey said in response to the look on Ian's face.

"I'm fine, Mickey. Really," Ian replied, smiling over at him. Though Ian really didn't want to lie to Mickey, he had no choice. He was exhausted, but he couldn't let Mickey see. Between spending the past month trying to divvy up his time evenly between the pack and Mickey and staying up to all hours of the night throughout the past week working with Lydia and Stiles attempting to find out where the alpha pack was hidden out while sending Scott, Isaac, Jackson, Derek, and Allison to empty warehouse after empty warehouse based off of false guesses and presumptions, Ian could barely keep his eyes open. All he wanted to do was sleep, but he hadn't spent time with Mickey in days. Mickey still slept at the Gallaghers' most nights, but after he fell asleep, Ian would sneak over to Lydia's to begin the researching and would return just before dawn. He had already failed two quizzes and had forgotten to turn in an English paper yesterday, so he wasn't surprised that Mickey had noticed something was wrong.

"No, you're not," Mickey said, closing the textbook he had resting on his lap and stealing Ian's away so he couldn't try and escape the conversation. Ian grabbed at the book, but Mickey threw it across the room and it slid under Carl's bed. When Ian tried to get up in an attempt to retrieve it, Mickey put his hand on his chest and pushed him back down. "You're not getting up until you tell me what the fuck is wrong. I'm…" Mickey trailed off and sighed, rubbing his temples.

"You're what?" Ian said, beginning to get angry. He didn't know why Mickey was choosing here and now to begin to express his concern for Ian. Ian had tried multiple times to have a conversation with Mickey about what they were to each other, but each time Mickey found a way to divert Ian's attention until he completely forgot about the subject.

"I'm fucking worried about you, okay? I'm not stupid; I hear you sneaking out every night. I wasn't going to bring it up to you because I knew you were probably going to hang out with those friends of yours. I don't want to be that asshole that sits around and tells his boyfriend what to do and who to hang out with, so I tried to give you your space. But you aren't sleeping; you're hardly eating; and you're doing shitty in school. This isn't you, Ian." Mickey's voice broke when he said Ian's name and he finally made eye contact with him.

"…boyfriend?"

"Fuck you." Mickey shook his head and got off of Ian's bed before angrily beginning to stuff clothes into the booksack he'd been living out of for the past two months. Ian sighed and rolled his eyes.

"What are you doing?" When Mickey didn't answer, Ian got up and walked over to him, putting his hand on Mickey's shoulder. Mickey whipped around and pushed Ian's hand away.

"Don’t fuckin' touch me." Mickey took a step away from Ian. "If you're fucking Stilinski or some other dude, just tell me. You don't get to sit there and act like you have no idea what I'm talking about. You don't get to treat me like a fuckin' idiot. I'm not an idiot. Tell me what you've been doing at night this past week or I'm going home."

"Mickey, this _is_ your home. Sit down. I'm…" Ian thought for a moment before making a decision. "I'm going to go call Scott McCall. He's going to help me explain everything to you." When he saw the look on Mickey's face, he smiled. "No, I'm not sleeping with Scott. He's dating Isaac Lahey. He can just… he can explain this better than I can."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

An hour later, Ian ran downstairs when the doorbell rang to let Scott inside. He could tell Scott was conflicted. He had explained the general situation to Scott on the phone and Scott had agreed to come over, but he hadn't yet agreed to help tell Mickey the full truth.

"Thank you, Scott, for coming over," Ian said as soon as he opened the door and pulled Scott inside.

"No problem, Ian," Scott replied, giving a weak smile. If Ian was exhausted, Scott was a dead man walking. Since he'd found out about the alpha pack from Derek, Scott couldn't have slept for more than six or seven hours in total. He'd been trying to find Boyd and Erica, whom the alpha pack had kidnapped. Ian didn't know either of them well; he'd talked to them both only a few times, but he knew how important they were to Scott and he genuinely wanted to help Scott find them. But each night when the pack left Lydia's house which had doubled as their base of operations to go to their individual houses to sleep, Scott would continue the search. Only two nights ago when Isaac had had a nightmare and went into Scott's room to be comforted only to find that Scott wasn't there did the pack realize that Scott hadn't been sleeping. He'd snuck out every night after making sure Isaac and his mom were asleep to try and gain new leads. Isaac called Derek and Jackson and they'd found Scott and forced him to come home and skip school the next day to sleep.

"Scott…" Ian began, trying to find a way to put into words how big of a favor he was going to ask him.

"I'll tell him," Scott replied before Ian could say anything else. Ian stood surprised as Scott began his way upstairs. Ian quickly followed after him. Before Scott could open the door to Ian's room, Ian stopped him.

"Listen," Ian said, whispering. "I know how much this is to ask. But I can't keep this from him anymore. I've tried and I can't. If I don't let him know, I'll lose him, and I don't know if I could handle that." Scott looked down.

"It's okay, Ian. If I was in your position, and Isaac in Mickey's, I wouldn't be able to do it either. I love Isaac, and…" Scott trailed off, aware of the undefined state of Ian and Mickey's relationship.

"I love Mickey," Ian finished for him, nodding slowly. Scott smiled bittersweetly at Ian before opening the door to Ian's room and greeting Mickey.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"I think that's everything," Scott said tiredly. He sighed, looking over at Mickey to await any more incoming questions. It was safe to say that Scott telling Mickey the truth did not go as smoothly as Ian had hoped. Scott's first attempt at verbally telling him ended in Mickey trying to punch Scott and Ian being forced to hold down Mickey against his will while Scott wolfed out to provide proof. Even after Scott's transformation, it took another hour and a half to fully explain what had been going on, not only the past week, but the past eight months. Mickey glanced at Ian for what must have been the fifteenth time that night so Ian could confirm that what Scott was saying wasn't complete and utter bullshit. Ian nodded at him and started to ask him if he was okay with all of this, but Mickey cut him off.

"How do I help?" Mickey demanded.

"You don't. I'm sorry, Mickey, but I'm not going to let you get into this like I did with Ian. I can't risk letting another person get hurt because of me." Scott smiled at him sadly. "I told you because Ian wanted me to. You're his… whatever you are, and—"

"Boyfriend," Mickey muttered, his cheeks turning pink. Scott's eyebrows shot up and Ian almost choked on the water he was drinking.

"Uh, yeah. You're his boyfriend and you have a right to know. But it's too risky to involve anyone else, no matter how much you may want to. I'm sorry, Mickey."

"Fuck that," Mickey said, rolling his eyes. "Tell Argent I'll be at her house tomorrow after school; she can train me to use those fuckin' weapons her family's been stockpiling."

"Mickey, you can't—" Ian tried to butt in, but was interrupted.

"I can't let your fuckin' skinny ass run around town with werewolves and kanimas and alpha gangs—"

"Packs," Scott corrected amusedly. Mickey shot him a look.

"Packs, whatever, and have you expect me to sit on my ass and turn a blind eye. Do you really think I'm going to let you go out on missions with the fuckin' Spooky Squad while I sit around your house watching shitty reality TV with your siblings?" Ian looked over at Scott and shrugged.

"It's your decision, man."

"Fine. Come with Ian to Lydia's house tonight," Scott said in resignation. Mickey smiled triumphantly over at Ian. "But the second either of you get even mildly hurt, neither of you can help anymore. Crap," Scott added, looking down at his watch. "I have to go meet Isaac for dinner. See you both at eleven," he said, getting up and making his way out of Ian's room. As soon as the door closed behind him, Ian and Mickey sat in silence for a few moments.

"So, you're my boyfriend, huh?" Ian said, smirking at Mickey.

"Fuck off."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The weeks following Mickey finding out consisted of Erica and Boyd being found (they were both relatively okay, though the pack had to help them concoct a lie to tell their parents – instead of being imprisoned by psychotic bloodthirsty werewolves, they had run away together to Los Angeles for a while), Scott's pack taking down the alphas while Scott himself officially became one, and many, many failed tests, though Ian didn't mind. He was finally able to have the two most important parts of his life coincide – his best friends and his boyfriend. Mickey, at first, didn't get along well with any of the pack. The only people he'd ever really had in his life that supported him were Mandy and Ian; it took him a while to get used to the idea that there was a group of people that was ready to accept him and trust him. He finally warmed up to Lydia of all people, and she ended up being the first of the pack other than Scott to know about Ian and Mickey. ("Really, though? You expected me to be surprised? Mickey, honey, the amount of drool that comes out of your mouth every time you look at Ian would be enough to fill a swimming pool.") Soon after, Mickey got to know the rest of the pack and eventually became comfortable enough with them to let all of them know about him and Ian's relationship. (The two boys sat everyone down one night at the McCalls' and came out to them. Scott and Lydia smiled proudly at Ian and Mickey; Allison ran up to them and gave them huge hugs; Isaac and Stiles clapped and catcalled; Derek awkwardly shook hands with them; Jackson sat on the arm of the couch, entirely disinterested. He was the only one that Mickey had yet to get along with; Mickey hadn't wanted to invite him to the announcement, but Ian had forced him to – "He's part of the pack too, Mickey! Even though he can be an asshole some of… well, most of the time.")

After the alpha pack was gone, the next couple of months were relatively normal. The pack came across an omega here or there, but once it would become aware of the McCall pack's presence, it would leave town almost immediately. The quietness allowed the teenagers to finally do some fairly normal teenagerly things. Scott, Isaac, Ian, and Mickey went on a plethora of double dates. They always invited Allison and Lydia to come along, but the girls usually declined due to the fact that they knew their dates always ended with the four boys at Scott's house, Ian tutoring Isaac in economics (Isaac had been struggling to bring up his grade that had plummeted when they were dealing with the alpha pack) and Scott teaching Mickey about werewolf lore. At first, Scott was surprised as Ian had been to find out that Mickey actually enjoyed reading and being knowledgeable about things. However, once Scott found out, he was more than happy to share with Mickey all that Derek had taught him when Scott himself first became a werewolf.

Ian had a feeling deep down that this calmness wouldn't last for long – and he was right. Tension had been building up between Jackson and Mickey, and Mickey was the one who finally threw the first punch at one of the pack's movie nights, though he wasn't unprovoked; he lost it after Jackson made a snarky comment about Mickey's (supposed lack of) intelligence. Scott and Derek managed to pull them apart before Lydia ordered them to be locked in Scott's room together until they could reconcile their differences. The pack had sat in silence downstairs while the two boys were in the room directly above them; the werewolves were trying to listen into the boys' conversation while the humans awaited another seemingly inevitable fight to break out. To all of their surprises, however, Jackson and Mickey returned downstairs half an hour later talking like nothing had happened. Later that night, Mickey told Ian that while in Scott's room, Jackson made some offhanded reference to an underground band he'd seen while in France that summer and, surprisingly, the band was one of Mickey's favorites.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Following Jackson and Mickey's truce, the two began spending unbelievable amounts of time together. Ian was taken aback to find that he wasn't happy about their newfound friendship; actually, he felt overwhelmingly disappointed. It seemed like the more time Mickey spent with Jackson, the less time he spent with Ian. Ian tried to ignore the situation for as long as possible, but in late March he finally reached a point where he couldn't deal with it anymore.

"I don't know what I should do. Should I talk to Mickey about it?" Ian was lying on Lydia's bed while Lydia sat at the foot of the bed painting her nails and Stiles, sprawled out across the floor, lazily flipped through a magazine. He had come over to talk to them about it; he had thought about discussing it with Scott, but as much as he trusted Scott, he knew Scott would go to Mickey about it. Mickey was a part of his pack, and Scott hated having secrets within the pack; he believed it weakened the bond between them.

"Dude, do you really think that if Mickey would cheat on you, he'd do it with Jackson? Are you aware of how much of a step down from you that is?" Stiles replied. Lydia rolled her eyes, capping the bottle of nail polish and throwing a pillow at Stiles' head.

"What I think he meant to say was that the fact that you think Mickey would ever cheat on you is insane." Lydia put her hand over Ian's. "Sweetie, he's in love with you. He looks at you like Scott looks at Isaac, like how I'm sure I look at Allison. He looks at you like you're the reason the earth spins. Why would you doubt him?"

Ian leaned his head against the bed's headboard and sighed heavily. "He's just been distant lately. He's acting like how I acted before he found out about the pack. I had a huge secret back then which means I have every reason to believe he's keeping something from me now."

Stiles tossed his magazine aside and joined Ian and Lydia on the bed. "Why don't you talk to Jackson first? He's a dick, but he wouldn't lie to you if you asked him straight up."

Ian shook his head. "Every time I'm around Jackson, Mickey's nearby. If he saw me talking to him, he'd ask me what was up."

Lydia raised an eyebrow. "So then _you_ won't ask him."

Ian sat up. "What the hell does that—Lydia, don't!" He lunged forward to try and take the phone from Lydia's hand, but Stiles held him down and covered his mouth while trying to stop himself from laughing. Lydia smiled sweetly over at them before putting the phone on speaker.

"What do you want, Lydia?" Jackson's arrogant voice filled the room and Ian made one last attempt to break free from Stiles' arms. He failed.

"Nice to speak to you too!" Lydia responded sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "I was just wondering, is Mickey cheating on Ian with you?"

The line was silent for a moment before Jackson burst into laughter. "God, that's a good one, Lydia."

"Which means…?"

"Do I really need to spell it out? All Mickey does is talk about Ian. Hell, I'd make fun of him for it if it weren't for the fact that he'd kick my ass if I did."

Lydia smiled knowingly at Ian. "Ciao!"

"Why the hell did you—" Jackson started, but was cut off by Lydia hanging up on him.

"Told you so," Lydia said, tossing her phone aside. Stiles finally let Ian go.

"But why would he talk to Jackson about me? I know Jackson and Mickey are friends, but Jackson and I barely talk. Why wouldn't Mickey talk to someone that actually cares about me?"

Lydia shrugged. "That's something you're going to have to ask him yourself."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"So, I heard you talked to Jackson about me." Mickey and Ian were in the bathroom getting ready for bed; Ian had just gotten out of the shower and Mickey was about to brush his teeth. Mickey had been relatively quiet since they'd gotten home from school and Ian was surprised not only to have him start a conversation, but for the conversation to be about this.

"I, uh… what?" Ian avoided eye contact with Mickey while he toweled his hair dry, but he could feel Mickey's eyes on him in the mirror.

"He came up to me before lunch today and told me Lydia had called him the night before and asked if I was cheating on you with him. At first I wondered why Lydia would care about our relationship until I remembered that you told me you were going over to her house last night." Ian didn't reply. "Ian. _Ian_." Ian began making his way to the bathroom door, but Mickey dropped his toothbrush and blocked the doorway before he could make it out. "What, you're not talking to me now?"

"What do you want me to say, Mickey?" Ian finally said. "That it was stupid of me not to trust you? That I was an idiot to believe you'd cheat on me? I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. What else is there?"

"I don't want your fucking apologies, Ian; I want you to tell me why you would go talk to Lydia about this rather than coming to me."

"I went to her because I didn't want to seem clingy, okay? I didn't want to annoy you; I didn't want you to get angry and do something stupid like leave the pack because the pack needs you. All of us do." Ian swallowed hard and looked down. "I wanted to give you your space. Like you said last fall, I didn't want to be the irritating boyfriend who told you what to do and who to hang out with." Ian fell silent and continued staring at the bathroom floor until he heard Mickey make a noise that sounded like a laugh. Ian looked back up at Mickey and, sure enough, Mickey was trying to hold in his laughter. "Really, Mickey? You're fucking laughing at me? Move." Ian tried to push Mickey out of the doorway, but Mickey held his ground.

"I'm sorry, man, I'm sorry," Mickey said, wiping the tears that had formed from his laughing outburst away from his eyes. "It's just that I've been spending so much time with Jackson because I didn't want to annoy you."

Ian raised his eyebrows. "Really?"

"Why the fuck else would I be spending so much goddamn time with Whittemore? Sure, we have some stuff in common, but he's a dick. I chose him because for one, he would let me blabber on about you as long as I listened to him talk about himself afterwards and two, the two of you almost never talk so I thought I'd be safe. I guess I didn't factor in Lydia," Mickey added, rolling his eyes. "It's just… if I could spend all my time with you, I would. But I wanted you to be able to make your own decisions without having to think about me first. If I had known me giving you so much space was upsetting you, I would never have done it. You just gotta let me know these things, Ian."

Ian smiled, and opened his mouth to speak. However, whatever he'd planned on saying didn't quite make it out. Somewhere between his brain and his mouth, it was replaced with, "I love you, Mickey Milkovich." Ian's felt his heart literally stop momentarily, but it resumed when Mickey broke into a grin.

"If you go to our room and give me three minutes to brush my teeth, I'll blow you before we go to bed." Mickey stepped aside, giving Ian access to the doorway.

"Deal." Ian began to leave, but Mickey stopped him once again before he could go.

"For the record? I love you too."


End file.
